.... and don't forget Jay Blunk, you have to say Jay Blunk every time you say John McDonough.

As much as I admire how McDonough has elevated the Blackhawks relevancy in this town, I don't think that there is a chance of this happening. McDonough's next step is to move up as either Bettmann or Selig's replacement.

The Sox should borrow heavily from his playbook on the marketing and business side, including poaching his video production crew (Evidently, we could avoid some of this year's embarrassments ) I'm not so sure what impact he has had on winning or losing, though.

I am a skeptic that McDonough could turn the Sox around.
The Blackhawks had years of losing,and getting high draft picks to stock their roster. Not sure how much McDonough had to do with that.

The core players of Keith, Seabrook, Sharp were already on the roster when he took over. Kane and Toews were just entering their rookie seasons, and already on the roster as well. The only main guy not on the roster was Hossa, but all he did was replace Martin Havlet. McDonough's job was to market the team. Putting the games on TV didn't take rocket science. My wife, who knew nothing about hockey prior to 2007, kept saying this. Although, his connections to WGN didn't exactly hurt, either. Yes, the current front office of the Hawks had something to do with the success, but the timing was just perfect for them. They took advantage of what they had, and more power to them.

Quote:

Sox have not drafted well,and have not had top picks to boot.
So, this year,they will end up with a top pick...time to have a great draft!

I will give Rick Hahn a few years...not sure what the impact can be made from above him,really.

Right, McDonough would just market the team and make going to a Sox game cool and fun. Which, this is exactly what we, as Sox fans, frown on about the Cubs. So, this is what we want know? Personally, I don't really care. I know the ballpark enough to make my own experience happen.

I am a skeptic that McDonough could turn the Sox around.
The Blackhawks had years of losing,and getting high draft picks to stock their roster. Not sure how much McDonough had to do with that.

Sox have not drafted well,and have not had top picks to boot.
So, this year,they will end up with a top pick...time to have a great draft!

I will give Rick Hahn a few years...not sure what the impact can be made from above him,really.

I think he would be replacing Brooks not Hahn. I agree with you about McDonough's real impact with the Hawks. His timing was impeccable but when the Hawks are good they have historically sold out, and he had nothing to do with the roster.

I really don't know why he would even want the job. For the Sox to draw they have to win, and keep winning.

The core players of Keith, Seabrook, Sharp were already on the roster when he took over. Kane and Toews were just entering their rookie seasons, and already on the roster as well. The only main guy not on the roster was Hossa, but all he did was replace Martin Havlet. McDonough's job was to market the team. Putting the games on TV didn't take rocket science. My wife, who knew nothing about hockey prior to 2007, kept saying this. Although, his connections to WGN didn't exactly hurt, either. Yes, the current front office of the Hawks had something to do with the success, but the timing was just perfect for them. They took advantage of what they had, and more power to them.

well said. sure he made the cubs losing cool but harry carry did more for the cubs with bringing people in. as for the hawks...the only move besides winning hockey that the hawks needed was for writz to die or sell and put them on tv. When that happened the fans they had came back.

I would not welcome McDonough in particular but certainly someone like him. The White Sox need someone from outside the organization to come in and evaluate things. In fact, they needed it a long time ago.

But nothing like this would ever happen. Jerry Reinsdorf would have to admit that he is not the baseball genius he thinks he is. So instead the team will go for several more years unable to compete in a weak division.

Besides, there is a reason this organization keeps hiring in-experienced people.

I don't think he would have any interest- but I would welcome with open arms a marketing/operations professional who also has a good knowledge of the Chicago market and the history/culture of the White Sox.

Other than the 1st few years of Brooks' tenure- between "recent Brooks" and Rob Gallas- very mediocre performance in this area.

The core players of Keith, Seabrook, Sharp were already on the roster when he took over. Kane and Toews were just entering their rookie seasons, and already on the roster as well. The only main guy not on the roster was Hossa, but all he did was replace Martin Havlet. McDonough's job was to market the team. Putting the games on TV didn't take rocket science. My wife, who knew nothing about hockey prior to 2007, kept saying this. Although, his connections to WGN didn't exactly hurt, either. Yes, the current front office of the Hawks had something to do with the success, but the timing was just perfect for them. They took advantage of what they had, and more power to them.

Right, McDonough would just market the team and make going to a Sox game cool and fun. Which, this is exactly what we, as Sox fans, frown on about the Cubs. So, this is what we want know? Personally, I don't really care. I know the ballpark enough to make my own experience happen.

Read the game experience threads. I'm not sure about the "cool" part but a healthy dose of "fun" would be a welcome change.

The motivations of others who attend games makes no difference to me. If they are going because it's trendy, fine. If they're casual fans who are really just looking for a place to take the kids, also fine...